1. Field of Invention
The present application relates generally to communications and more specifically to multi-wideband communications over multiple mediums.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, residences such as houses, apartments, and condominiums have multiple types of wires for power and/or communications. For example, a house may typically have one or more ring mains, or may have multiple spurs configured to supply power to most, if not all, of the rooms in the house. The house may additionally have one or more telephone line connections, including multiple extensions accessible in various rooms. The telephone line may provide telephone communications and/or Internet access using a digital subscriber line (DSL) standard. Many homes additionally have one or more coaxial cable connections to a number of rooms. For example, cable television programming or satellite television programming, or terrestrial analog television may be received via the coaxial cable. In some cases the phone line or coax in the home may be unused by any apparatus. Further, networked apparatuses may communicate via Ethernet cabling.
Many households include devices that communicate with one another. For example, a television set may communicate with a digital versatile disc (DVD) player to display a movie on the television set. These communications require separate wires and/or cables connecting the DVD player to the television set. These device-to-device wires can become very complex, if, for example, other components such as a stereo system are also connected to the television set. Further, the stereo system may be separately connected via another wire to a personal computer or media player. The use of a dedicated wire between devices additionally limits which devices are able to communicate with one another. For example, many homeowners are reluctant to connect a very long wire from, for example, a television in the kitchen to a DVD player in a bedroom. In addition, with the rise of digital content, such as JPEG digital photographs, MP3 digital music and MPEG digital video, that can arrive from multiple sources, such as the cable service provider or the internet, and could be stored in different devices in the home, such as the Personal Computer (PC) or a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) or a Set Top Box (STB), there is a need to create a digital in-home network that can distribute the digital content through network connected devices throughout the home with high performance and reliability.
Powerline communication (PLC) is a technology that encodes digital data in a signal and transmits the signal on existing electricity powerlines in a band of frequencies that are not used for supplying electrical power. Accordingly, PLC leverages the ubiquity of sockets within existing power supply networks to provide an extensive number of possible connection points to form a network.
Referring to FIG. 1, a powerline network in a household 100 typically has a distributed mains wiring system consisting of one or more ring mains, several stubs or spurs and some distribution back to a junction box 104. For example, the household 100 is supplied electrical power from an external line 102. The junction box 104 routes the electrical power among ring mains 106, 108, and 110. The household 100 further comprises a telephone line network 112. The telephone line network 112, as shown, does not require a junction box or division among multiple rings. It should be noted that the powerline network is typically more widely distributed to outlets and rooms than the telephone line network 112.
As shown in FIG. 1, there are a variety of distances and paths between different power outlets in the household. In particular, the outlets most closely located to each other are those on multi-plug strips, and the outlets furthest away from each other are those on the ends of stubs of different ring mains (e.g. power outlets in the first floor and the second floor). Communications between these furthest outlets typically pass through the junction box 104. In some PLC systems, it may be difficult to pass communications through the junction box, particularly if they are on different alternating current (AC) phases.
There is, therefore, a need for improved communications systems that overcome the above and other problems.